Wayne Rooney reported to want out of Manchester United

The Guardian is reporting that Wayne Rooney is refusing to negotiate a new deal with the club and "intends to find new employers"

I'm split on this, right now. On one hand, his off-the-field issues, to an extent are similar in size and magnitude as David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo. The people around them got in their heads and gave them an inflated sense of ego, combined with multi-million pound endorsement deals and eventually had a public spat with the gaffer. Both were shown the door and both regretted the decision afterwords. Wayne Rooney could be the latest example with some of the things going on around him now.

On the other hand, it was only last week that they were reporting that Edwin van der Sar was retiring at season's end, only to be refuted the next day. So the British media doesn't exactly have a spotless record when it comes to reporting facts.

For me, I take this news with the grain of salt it deserves. I hope it's untrue and Roo can stay, but if this proves true, then perhaps it's best to make the deal in the January transfer window so maximize his value (and perhaps pay down some club debt, buy a player...etc.) and to get rid of the side show he's become over the last few months. I just don't want another drawn out transfer drama à la Cristiano Ronaldo.

What do you think? How much credibility are you going to give to this report? I'll have the rest of the links and more on the Wayne Rooney in From the Back Pages.